Return
by Himeru-chan
Summary: Sakura has been training for 8 years as a medical ninja. She's matured and beautiful. In fact she's one hell of a kunoichi in Konoha. How will she deal with both her feelings for two men that has caught her heart? Will she be able to bring sasuke back?
1. Prologue

**Return**

****Author's Note****

So I've been reading some fanfiction about Sasuke and Sakura over at and I really want to add a story that I wrote about their not so hinted romance because I like the two of them together. Well, I've imagined the story up until chapter 3 already but you know, my human hands just can't keep up with the flow of ideas. If I could just write what I was thinking then probably I've written a lot of books already

It's been a long time since i've uploaded anything in so i'll probably keep this up until this one is finished...

Please Review!

~HIMERU CHAN~

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**Prologue: **

_**Her Art**_

Sakura gazed at her reflection at the oval shaped mirror and pouted her lips quickly. Her pink locks of hair were tamed on the sides, some escaping to block the view on her beautiful yet paled face. Her long silken hair had grown up to her waist but she always kept it braided. The dexterity of her youth was still there, lips were still lustrous and her eyes were still attractive to her own point of view. It should be there! She didn't want her work to cause her to age. She was still young after all. Being a 20 year old with a lot of life responsibilities is bound to make her old soon. That's why she placed a mirror directly in front of her so she can check herself out every so often.

How long has she been doing this? 15 hours? She sighed as she brought a hand to massage the throbbing temples. She pointed two fingers on her forehead and tried to relieve her headache using her chakra. She smiled, learning that this is one of the best ways to use her energy. If she had more time, she's bound to develop a new jutsu for dealing with minor ailments like this only because she needed one.

She sighed and focused her attention to the multitude of papers on top of her desk. The papers contained information on the number of casualties they had for the past month. Sakura deemed this important because it contains essential intel on the methods of attack their ninjas usually receive in their missions, how much ability do other ninjas have during combat and how much defense or offense do their ninjas use. Using this to Konoha's advantage, it will help their village to strengthen their ninjas to adjust to such attacks.

She could have easily left the job to the secretary but she knew how to classify the papers more than anyone else. Being an accomplished medical ninja, her skills have reached a level where even other countries recognize her work. She doesn't really think of the prestige she's been receiving though. More like, she doesn't have time to think about it. She's always juggling classification work, patients and missions that she hardly gets any time to appreciate the fruits of her efforts. Besides, the influx of patients that required a higher level of fixing had kept her body at its limits every single day.

"Tea?" a brown haired woman offered as she settled the drink at the near edge of her busy table. Sakura nodded once and smiled at her before she spoke again. Sakura knew about the envelopes she had in her hands and before she could even tell her about those, Sakura had eyed her already. Her eyes told the other woman that she was busy. _Extremely busy._

"So I'll just put these in that basket over there?" she seemed a little depressed as she made a walk over to the basket that was on top of an unused table in the corner.

"Sarah, just put it." Sakura ordered with a raised brow when she saw the other woman hesitated.

"But you have to read it you know? You have like," she stopped for a moment as she turned around and described the mountains of letter that was inside a hollow container. "See? It's a basket full of letters already!" Sakura sighed and when she took a quick peek that the other didn't seem to notice, she was spot on. It was a basket full alright. She shook her head and shuffled the papers into one folder.

"That's just exaggerating it." Sakura immediately countered.

As she placed the folder in one empty spot in her table, she turned her attention towards the tea. She grabbed it slowly and started to take small sips on it. She smiled when she smelled the aroma of Jasmine that she truly loved. It released the tensions of her muscles before she leaned back on her chair. She started playing with her chair, moving it back and forth to divert her attention away from work.

"You know?" Sarah started. Instantly, the pink haired kunoichi knew she'd have to endure another life lesson lecture from her.

"You never go out. I mean, you're all work! Sakura you're still so young! Why don't you try going out and choose a ninja from these love letters?" She grabbed a handful of letters on the table and brought it up to reiterate her point. I looked at her and tried to digest what she just said and a slight chuckle left my unwilling lips. It didn't actually bother her if she was the only one in their generation who has no boyfriend. She's just happy that her friends, Ino, Tenten and Hinata, are happy.

Ino and Shikamaru just clicked together, and she knew it would eventually come to that even when they were still teammates. Now they are both jounins of their own right and have been kicking it off to check whose team was much better than the other. Shikamaru loved Ino's futile competitiveness against his and Ino loved how Shikamaru would sometimes let her win just for the sake of making her blissful. She wouldn't have cared much about it but Ino's ranting mate turns out to be her most of the time. In the end, she knows their love story by the back of her hand.

Tenten and Neji took quite a long time before it had blossomed to the point that Konoha knew of their relationship together. She remembered it on the fast track when Tenten was kidnapped and Neji was the one who rescued her along with Kiba and Naruto. Neji wouldn't want to advance into a relationship especially when he knew Tenten was not ready. Tenten on the other hand was embarrassed to hint that she was ready. So they waited for a long time before it became official.

Well Hinata, she and Naruto had gone to missions together a lot lately and she had been a big part in it. She playfully asked Tsunade to bring them closer to provide more opportunities for the both of them. Unfortunately, she hasn't heard anything after that.

She smirked and brought the teacup down the saucer. Finding someone to love right now is really troubling. She never thought of it for a long time and it certainly didn't matter right now. The point is, if the men are so much eager to write her silly love letters, they should just approach her_. _

_Are they so insensitive to know that I have been working overtime for their sakes too? I can't even imagine inserting a bit of my time to read such sultry poetries of love. _

Sakura blinked her eyes off the handful of letters off the woman's hands. Love can wait. Men can wait. I can wait. Work CAN'T wait. How many injured people come and go this hospital? More than 50 a day! Some days would even have 5 badly injured jounin who really gets on her nerves. Ninja's HAVE to learn some good self defense to lessen their injuries. She hated people who didn't take good care of their health.

Before she could delve into further details of convincing the Hokage to add it to the platforms for the coming year, her consciousness floated to Sarah's voice again.

"People fawn over you Sakura, It's been 8 years now... you should just relax and hang out." She shrugged her shoulders like she had to. She knew what she meant by 8 years. She has been counting with me every year. I made it appoint to look at her strictly and she gave up with her hands up on the air courtly.

_Sasuke_. He was one insolent bastard who fled from the village to extract revenge on his brother who left their clan near extinction. Her old self would certainly look for him still. She laughed and joke about it for some time but the pain was still there. Lately, she realized that he wasn't the only man in the world. She realized that looking for him was useless. He was a person who never wanted to be found. I never gave up on him though and as a former teammate, that's the only thing she could offer to him now.

"Sarah," Sakura said while covering a palm over her eyes.

"Okay, I'll take a short break." Sakura stood up, stretched her arms over her shoulders and let her soft roses of hair gather around her back. Sarah thought she was beautiful. A pair of green emeralds hugged her soft eyes. Her silken soft locks of pink were loosely coiled on her shoulders. Her small cherry coloured lips matched her rosy cheeks. The black hanging top hugged her body and her black leather knee length pants fitted her like second skin. Wearing her white coat was a plus factor. No wonder men and women admired her. She was one of the prettiest kunoichi around, not to mention one that follows the skill of their hokage, or even better in the future. She was dedicated with her chakra control that none can beat her skill with it- at least not in Konoha, or those who dared challenge her to it.

Sakura took her white coat off her body and replaced it with a white hooded coat in her clothes rack in the office. She wore it and went outside from the window. Laughing as she enjoyed unconventional methods like that. Brings back memories of spying missions and all just for the fun of it. She covered her lips and ran down the streets just to feel the air brushing against her cheeks, with a speed that normally no ninja in Konoha would use while inside the bustling village. It's been a while since she went out and she certainly loved that feeling of not thinking about anything.

"Hey! Slow down there," her eyes went to the side as she saw kiba washing akamaru. She was at a rooftop directly across where Kiba was. The man called and waved at her while Akamaru barked his greetings. Sakura waved back with a smile as she jumped down from the green coloured rooftop and down the road to check both of them out.

"Feeling the air?" Kiba asked. Sakura chuckled at that and nodded. "I was getting bored in the office." The fanged man laughed so hard and stopped after a moment to explain.

"Sakura, your office is boring." She nodded. Yes, it was boring. No action. She missed the action and the time when she did her share of missions almost every week.

Apparently, being one of the top medical nins around, Tsunade was careful in choosing her missions. She will be a great loss, Tsunade explained to her once. Not that she wasn't happy being treasured like that. In fact, with the appreciation of so many people and being recognized in the village was a dream when she was still in Team 7. Her hands can cure, at the same time could kill. She was a double edge sword. She was like that Kabuto kid who Orochimaru had for his own damn selfish sake.

"Well, do you think bathing Akamaru is fun?" Kiba chuckled. "Well at least it's not paperwork. I hate paperwork." Sakura walked around and nodded her head.

"Hey kiba? Who do you think is most likely training right now?" Kiba's eyes widened with surprise but he cupped his chin almost immediately. "So you want a good knuckle fight? Well fuzzy brows training every day,"

_Fuzzy brows? _She knocked her head to the side and smiled. Of all the ninjas that she knows, it was most likely Lee that was training right now. He was as dedicated to Taijutsu as she was in her medical arts. She meant it, this was her ninja art.

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Tried fixing this chapter :P


	2. Chapter 1: Treasure

****Author's Note****

So, I feel the prologue was a downer. HahaHa.

**To MYinnerNINJA:**

Aww.. yes, I noticed that and there were also a few lines that had grammatical errors in it so thanks you! Right now, we have a slow internet so it's really hard to edit the chapter. However when I recover the speed, I will run through everything and change a few words.

Anyways, on to chapter 1... but before that, an announcement.

**Mourning:** Yesterday, all the files in my computer were corrupted and i blame it in Vista for giving me this hardship. All the ten years of writing went instantly in the drain and i am currently crying over the lost of the culmination of all my ten years in writing and of course some important videos and picture files. I hope its recoverable. Or I will really grieve for eternity.

**RCS PLEASE...**

(Review, Comment, Suggestion)

**~Himeru-chan~**

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**Chapter 1**

**Treasure**

**-OC ALERT-  
**

"_And he told you to come here?"_ Sakura nodded meekly.

She paused for a while to study the reaction of Rock Lee who was wearing his usual green uniform with long black and white bands circling his wrist and legs. He had his mouth opened wide with a slight red flare on his cheeks and his hands were all spread out on the side. She tried to stop a chuckle when she saw him. How he missed this guy! He was much taller than her now and manlier compared to the last time she saw him, which by the way was ages ago. What era did she live in? She sighed. He still had unique fuzzy brows though. That's what makes him Rock Lee of the Hidden Village.

He was not alone when she found him. He was actually teaching the basic form of Taijustsu to several genins which was about a class of 27 or 30. She was amazed to see how he was teaching it very easily to them. It was as if he was a child himself, talking and getting the class' attention in just one shout. Iruka sensei had his time when everyone didn't feel like listening to him. She laughed silently in that memory. She didn't want to disturb the class he was teaching so she decided to just slip out and leave them alone. She tried to hide her aura and turned her back to leave. Before she even had taken her first step, Neji stepped in with his Byakugan released.

At that time, Rock Lee had already noticed her presence and excitedly ordered the children to practice on their own to join the two ninjas in their conversation.

"We're actually here as replacements, the special jounins who were teaching the students were called for a mission. Since we're here as stand-by reinforcements, Lady Tsunade ordered us to stay here until the order is lifted," Neji explained.

_That made sense,_ she thought.

She actually didn't expect Rock Lee to be invited to teach at the Academy but it was not surprising if he was assigned to teach taijutsu since this was his specialty. Neji on the other hand was only assisting his team mate in the execution of moves and as a sparring partner for Lee's Taijutsu during demonstrations.

"Well I just thought that it's better to do it outside since this is Taijutsu..." Lee explained with a laugh while looking at the space of the open building. She nodded in agreement. She remembered their days when they were still in the academy. They never did it outside of the premises of the school but they stayed on a covered stadium near it. She thought this was a great idea, unconventional but who the hell cares? As long as the Genin learn that environment is a part of learning Taijutsu.

The place they were in is actually one of the training areas in the village. The orb shaped ceiling and the cemented floors of the area were held by 5 long pillars. This is one of the brick red colored buildings that are placed in a circular pattern around the village so it was an easy-find place for those who wanted to train their art.

"Anyway, it's rare to see you out of your office Sakura," Rock Lee said as he forced a laugh out, a shade of red never leaving his face. He brought one hand behind his head and started to pat it for a couple of times before bringing it down. It was the second time she heard that this day.

"Yeah, aren't you busy? You never seem to leave your office. Ten told me that you're busy with some paper works." Neji mentioned. Sakura faked a smile. She heard this line for the third time this day. Did she leave that kind of impression to people? She did think she was working so much but a... _workaholic_?

She sighed. People don't usually see her train because she always do it at night. Mornings were busy with reports for the Hokage. Afternoons were busy for critically ill patients. That was her life for eight years. Missions were rare for her, about once a month. If she was lucky, she'd get two.

_Yes, yes, Tsunade is careful, _she shook her head and fought off the feeling of being left out from the action.

"Well, I'm out for a change of environment. I'm boiled over there." She laughed a cute one. Lee's eyes widened as if an idea had just occurred to him and he jumped towards Sakura and shook her shoulders vibrantly.

"Why don't you give a talk on what kind of ninja you are Sakura so they'll be able to choose their career paths in the future!" Lee sang happily, hopeful at his suggestion. It might be a good chance to increase the number of medical ninjas in the future so after when she taught about it, she nodded her head. She didn't have anything to do after all and besides, it was a good opportunity to have.

"I think i _DO_ want some reinforcements in the future." she laughed. Rock Lee nodded many times in agreement and pushed her towards the center with both his hand pressed on her shoulders. With one last nudge, she took her step towards the center. She was surprised when Lee pushed her but had recovered her stance when she saw the children looking at her.

Neji acknowledged the idea and started to call the class attention. He began to introduce her beginning with her accomplishments when they were all settled down.

He first mentioned that she was a medical ninja who specializes in the healing jutsu, chakra and power control. He also explained briefly how Sakura had killed one of the most notorious members of the ninja world, the _Akatsuki_. She also achieved recognition during the previous war for healing the most important and influential people and how these helped in gaining more allies for the village. He also mentioned that the Ninja world had given her the title that only a few people know. She had saved more than a thousand lives of ninja every year, he said. That her knowledge helped Ninjas on surviving a confrontation, probably not as good as their best strategist in town, Shikamaru which is also a noted ninja in his line of work. Her strategy comes from the idea on how to avoid major injuries in battle which is also of extreme importance for survival and completing missions. She was also a researcher that contributes her knowledge in the development of new potions and items that can increase a momentary skill for a short period of time. It was much similar on Chouji's own pill which provides the idea that it might also be possible.

Before he finished, all eyes were on her. Lee's, Hyuuga's and the 27 pairs of the expectant eyes of the children.

She blushed at the introduction although she thought it did not need mentioning. What she achieved at this point were all all guided by their Hokage. It was the Hokage's order that made her strived hard to do it- all research, all reports, all the saving and everything.

At this point, it may sound so surreal but there was a time when she was a helpless Genin who also didn't believe in her capabilities as a ninja. She knew nothing but the foundations of the art. That she felt helpless. That her eyes were always on the back of three men who always covered for her. That she was nothing but a hindrance to the growth of two superb ninjas back then.

Not anymore.

She changed.

Everyone knows her abilities and appreciate her for it.

And she will continue to increase her skill and her art so that she will never be back at that situation again.

She will never be that same old Sakura who always cried because she was a helpless little member of team 7.

"I am Haruno Sakura. First of all, I did not start out with these achievements. I almost died twice for working so hard." she started pulling down her hood to her shoulders so that her pink beautiful hair slid down for exposure. "I was a genin like you were and i was studious even!" she laughed to the fact that she was a bookworm and she knew theories that not all genins would like to know at this point of time. "But even though I had my theories and foundations, I always cry in battle. It made me realize that no matter how good I am in studying, if i can't execute those, I'll die."

"I was always protected by my team mates, those three people that I loved. There's my teacher, Kakashi, my dearest friend Naruto, and..." she stopped and took a breath, taking some steps forwards as she spoke. "and an ambitious teammate, Sasuke." From out of the corners of her eyes, she saw Neji and Lee tensed with the sound of his name coming out from her mouth. The old memories started flooding her again but had shoved the lock almost immediately so that she could say his name without an accompanying memory.

"But if you think that being a medical ninja isn't such a good occupation and you'd want to be someone like your teacher Neji or Rock Lee, then you might try to reconsider my job..." Her hand had slid off to her breast pocket, circled the metal along her fingers and threw towards the bushes. There was silence in the room and no one knew the significance of what she did except for the three jounins in the room.

She began to pull back the kunai along the almost invisible thread that was attached to it and when she finally pulled it back completely, there was a large frog attached on the end of the blade. Sakura smiled when some of the genins stood up with surprise. Some girls even hid in the back after seeing the dead frog. A feat that would most likely maker her cry if she was who she was before. Some children looked at her as if she was a cruel woman who killed animals. That was a mere part of her intention.

"Medical Ninjas, have the ability to kill because they are knowledgeable of the different parts of the body. Just a slight thread in the middle of an enemy's brain can kill them slowly."She pulled the kunai off the dead frog and held the thing in the middle of her gloved hand. "But at the same time," she covered the animal with her other palm and a light green aura floated in it. "Medical Ninja's can cure."

The children were surprised when they saw the frog leaping off towards the bushes again as if something did not happen to it. All of the children laughed and clapped their hands when she was finished. She felt like she did a one shot magic show. After that, she heard the cry of a bird outside and she instantly knew it was the Hokage's Bird. She bowed her head informally towards the two men and pointed a finger upwards.

"I guess that's my cue to go. Tsunade's calling for me." She said as she the Hokage's bird looming on top of the building, hawking while it went a sweet dive towards her. She held out her arm as the bird perched over the length of it.

"Thank you for sharing Sakura," Neji bowed a little. "I'll go and and let them have their break." Neji walked away while Rock Lee stayed and looked over her as if he wanted to say something.

"umm... Sakura?" Lee called. He looked hesitant to move until Neji had bid his goodbyes and turned his way towards the children who were gawking and whispering at each other. The children had their small innocent eyes over her for a few moments before they tried hard to pretend that they weren't looking when she's try to look back at them. She kept thinking that they were cute up until Lee raised his hand up above his head.

"It's really nice to see you again! BYE!" he ran back as fast as he could without looking back and when he finally did try and turn his head over the pink haired kunoichi, she was already gone. Not with a smile that says that she had the most incredible experience that day.

The aura inside the room was heavy. The Hokage who usually greeted her first whenever she enters the room had taken her aback when she saw her standing, looking outside her office and outside the village. Shizune stood silently beside Tsunade with a worried face eyeing her very form and smiling when she sees her looking back at the Hokage. Sakura knew that something is troubling her master. Just the tension inside the room made her muscles tensed.

"Sakura," Tsunade started. Her voice was forceful with a tone that commanded attention. This caught her by surprise and her muscles instantly froze in its place.

"Y-yes... Tsunade-sama?" she answered back, unsure she just used the correct words. She bit her lower lip and swallowed hard. Will she be reprimanded? Get a new mission? whatever it is, she definitely did not feel excitement. If her huch was right, she didn't even like where this was going. Hopefully, her teacher was just being playful.

"Sakura, this is Rikuto, he will be with you from now on." Sakura had her eyes opened wide. Out from the side of her eyes came a figure of a man wearing that distinguished cat mask, silver grey chest and hand protectors and with underlying black long-sleeved sweatshirts.

He was a member of the Anbu without a doubt.

"Tsunade-sama... I," before she could say anything else, Tsunade spoke again.

"Three days ago, three famous medical ninja have been kidnapped from different countries." She started. Sakura sensed the remorse of the Hokage over the situation. Her voice was low and downcast but with a mix of irrefutable anger she only showed when she was somewhat helpless in the situation.

"Sakura, you're a one of our village's pride now. I want to know that you're always safe and sound. You are not going to take no. This is an absolute order." When she finished, Sakura felt that she wouldn't be able to talk the Hokage out of having a bodyguard.

She didn't need an Anbu. She didn't want an Anbu.

They are people who doesn't take good care of themselves.

Whatever the reason of the bastard guy or group that kidnaps these medical ninjas maybe in some kind of a medical emergency that needs a specialized care. They maybe people who are wanted for something. People with bounty offers.

_Shanaro. That freaking bastard... _

She imagined her inner sakura destroying 100 traing dummies with one punch. She felt her knuckles tighten with a force that no one can reckon with.

"_I understand..." _Tsunade nodded and dismissed Sakura.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like this arrangement. Please bear with it for awhile until the case is solved. I've already sent Sai and Kakashi to investigate the matter..." she nodded.

"_Will you stop disturbing my work!" _Sakura had extended her patience for her teacher but the utter irritation she had for this Anbu called Rikuto, was enough to drive her nuts.

She pushed the willing Anbu, who she taught could have avoided her attack but did not for some reason, into the wall. She lifted him up slightly into tiptoes and slammed her other fist on the wall beside his neck. She tried her best to stop her hand from destroying the hospital wall by sheer power. She was breathing heavily as she tried to control her anger. More than 20 hours of paper work did not bother her much. This Rikuto guy only needed 3 hours to get her this mad.

She was actually disappointed how he'd be so visible around other people whenever he was with her. And if that was not conspicuous enough, he'd be closely observing when she'd be with her patients while she checks their progress. She finally snapped when she saw him inside the ladies room when she had to tie her hair to freshen up.

_Actually, she had enough. _

Anbu were supposed to be hidden, invisible, disguised, and camouflaged! They are a special force for ninja's sake! Why the hell then, she thought, that there was a VISIBLE Anbu guarding her back as close as several feet away from her, where everyone, not only the villagers but also her officemate, Sarah would even try to take glimpses and motion me towards him as if to ask his existence.

Sakura was ticked off when she felt a light chuckle escape his covered face. He was obviously trying her patience. As much as she wanted to get mad, there were still some patients inside the room they were just in and it probably wouldn't be wise if they saw their healer lifting a man off to the sky. She sighed as she brought him down so that his feet were parallel to the floor.

"_Can you please hide when you're guarding me? I can't concentrate."_ she said, trying her best to make the most wonderful pleading face as she he did not reply she thought she just wasted her effort of actually being considerate. It was either he was mute and they were not allowed to talk to her or he was just pissing her upside down. After a few moments of staring at the holes that were on his cat mask, seeing those pair of jet black irises looking back at her with the same iron stare that seemed to have taken a natural disaster to separate, he heard a sharp intake of air as he spoke.

"_I'm not inconvenienced as you are. Besides, it's a pain to hide when I'm baby-sitting..." _His voice was cold and devoid of emotion. She felt he was smug about the way he said it to her. Just then, all reason for staying sane momentarily started flashing on and off. Sakura tightened her hold on his shirt, pulled her towards her and made sure he could hear what she was about to say. If not, she'd operate that message to his brain.

"_You. are. not. to. disturb. me. or. my. patients. while. I'm. working. Just so you know, this," She began pointing his armor with her other finger while she reiterated her point. _

_"This brings fear to my patients!" she whispered angrily to him. _

"_What are you going to do about it? Tell the Hokage?" _She heard an arrogant snicker which automatically made her right hand coil into a fist that was already finding its way towards his chest.

She knew he could stop it and she anticipated it. The way he taunted her was effective. As her fist contacted his own big ones, he had used that as a leverage to pull her closer to his body, taking a very surprised woman on the hard wall of his chest protector and next to the areas that were actually devoid of metal.

"If i were you, I'd relax a little..." He pressed his mask over her face which didn't seem to threaten her as much as he would have thought it would to her. Seeing this amused him so much that he let go of his other hand, still hooked her towards him by coiling her feet with his. He had one hand move his mask towards the other side of his face. It further amused him when her eyes widened as she saw him without the mask.

The bangs that fell on the side of his face made his eyes bigger- a pair of scarlet eyes that searched her approval. His medium length hair that he held in a band at the back was pale against his ivory colored skin. There were no other words that could have described him aside from beautiful. Mature, dark, beautiful and sensual. Those were the words that made her blank as she stared back at him.

He smiled at her approval and her willingness of staying in his arms without a fight. (Or was she that surprised to see his face from behind his Anbu mask that she had forgotten to repulse him)

"You know Ms. Haruno.. If you were not kidnapped for your skills." Rikuto started, her attention seemed to have shifted to what he was saying. "I'd say its because of '_something_' else."

"_What the hell... are you saying, freak?" she wanted to be more forceful but the dryness of her throat kept her from doing just that. It sounded like a tiny croak to his ears._

"Another thing... Ms. Haruno," he started. The faint smell of his cologne together with his imposing presence made her a little dizzy. His hands began its travel again starting from his fingers curling the end peices of her hair and down again to her back, making her arch back towards his body which seemed to please him very much, and down her bottom and her legs. The heat of his hands brushing along the length of her legs made her a little excited, perking up her senses. She heard a stiffled laughed before she felt a gush of moist breath over her heated ears.

"When you're _aroused_... you shouldn't let the other's feel it." Sakura's eyes widened snapping her out from the pheronomic effects of his being. Before she could deny it out of embarrassment, she heard him speak again, this time his lips were closely brushing against her ear as he spoke.

"Especially when that other is a Captain of the Anbu Black Corps." Sakura snapped her head to the other side. The heat of his lips burned her skin with desire that she never felt before. The blood rushed to places she never imagined would heat up with just a slight touch. She heard him snicker before he let his palms slide on the side of her waist before he walked away.

"I'll be hiding just like how you wanted it." He called and disappeared into thin air.

Sakura was quiet for awhile. She held her hands together and forced a lean over to the wall for support. She was numbed by his beauty but even more so by his cold eyes. It vaguely made her remember about sasuke and his ice cold stare. Was she a masochist for being attracted to a man that gives that same damn feeling of arousal? She covered her face, her face flushed and hot to what just happened.

_I wish he would just wear that mask all day, she whispered to herself. Otherwise I won't even have the power to hide my thoughts. _

* * *

I'm still greaving.. the lost of my files made me took a much needed step as I take a little time to a look back at all the stories and the almost hundreds pages in some of my novel length stories. It's really a heart breaking experience and i blame it on Vista. I blame myself for not saving my files too...

On the other hand, the challenge of writing it again makes me doubtful but excited.

Please review my stories.

Help me realize writing really is worth it.

RCS Please...


	3. Chapter 2: Overlapping Existence

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

It's been a long update after the last one. I've been doing a Naruto Shippuuden marathon so that's why this update came.

I'll keep this short though. I'll bring Sasuke out in the next episode. So please enjoy this chapter and please review.

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**CHAPTER 3**

**Overlapping Existence**

Sakura threw her things on the floor and decided to fall down on the bed. Landing on the soft covers, she tried to search for a pillow with her hand. When her fingers got hold of the soft cotton, she lifted the small rectangular thing over her head. She never felt so embarrassed her whole life. She really did hate the ANBU after all- their attitude, their narcissism and their carelessness. She hated everything about them. Unable to contain her frustration against the bunch of masked men, she tried to shut her eyes tightly and turned a couple of times on the bed, finding herself a good position. Thinking of all the things she would have to finish before the day breaks made her feel exhausted. Only then did she feel the soreness of her muscles and her weariness from the job. Unable to resist the urge to close her eyes, she did and only then did she felt relaxed momentarily.

Her dreams never really contained good ones. Ever since the incident ten years ago, she never really had great dreams. After he left, one problem piled up one after another in the village. He must have it really easy to never think about it. Unlike her, since she was always close to the Hokage, she partly carries the stress of her everyday life. Not to mention, being a proxy for her to some of her meetings.

Right now, her dream is still the same. It's always Sasuke's back, slightly looking towards her way before totally walking away. Until, unlike any of all her other dreams, the man with the darkest of hair stopped walking and turned around completely, staring at her green orbs that reflected the man himself. Sasuke was looking at her. Before she could react any further, Sakura lifted a hand with a kunai at the skin of her late night visitor. The man held the kunai with his fingers and slowly pushed away the blade in a different direction.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura broke the silence first. The man with the peculiar cat mask stared back at her from the eyeholes of the accessory.

"You were moaning." Sakura immediately flushed a deep red before she finally got the pillow at her side and threw it towards the man who did not need any skill to dodge the flying object. Sakura was sure he was smirking behind that mask.

"I just wanted to hear those lewd noises better," Sakura deepened her frown, which seemed to delight the man next to her. She would have gotten out and attack him only to notice the blanket that covered her body. It wasn't there before she went to sleep. 'He must have gotten it for me…' she thought.

"Just get out." She ordered as light as possible. The man moved without any hesitation, but instead of going away, he closed the gap between them despite the kunai that was in front of her. He sat down, with his knees of the hard planks before he spoke again.

"You sure? It seems you're sexually frustrated… I'll help you." Sakura threw a hand towards him, which he caught again with ease. "I'll do it instead of Sasuke." Sakura's eyes widened as she look back at the person in front of her. For a moment, she felt that he wasn't joking at all. If he thought it was funny, she's going to be annoyed. It wasn't a good joke. He had no right to speak his name at all.

"Get out-" Before she could react any further he already pushed her down. Her face was that of a surprised and defeated female dominated by an alpha male.

She started to feel a little weird after feeling the heat of his body on top of her. It brought her a type of secret pleasure that seemed a little inappropriate for the situation right now. She hated how he seems to have noticed that.

"Sakura," he started. "The Hokage's worried about you not only because of that unknown pursuer but also from your pathetic lifestyle." She looked away from the cat mask that was inches away from her face. He didn't need to tell her about that. She perfectly knows it already.

"Go away." Her voice was low.

"Really? Do you want me to go away?" Sakura was surprised when she hesitated. After a few more seconds, she decided not to answer to that. He gave up moments after, not after he bore a longing look at the female kunoichi who seemed a little broken after hearing the name of the Uchiha.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you," he stood up and went further away from the bed. Sakura almost felt disappointed but shrugged it off instead. Why should she feel that way? She didn't like him. He was just an existence that seems to overlap with Sasuke.

"Although, if you want someone to make you feel like a woman. Just say my name." After a few mere seconds, he disappeared as if he wasn't in the room in the first place. She covered her face with her knees. She can't believe that all of this was happening. Her life didn't feel as peaceful as before. Her heart certainly wasn't.

That night was still young. She woke up after a couple more hours of rest. She took a bath and ate dinner. She looked at the mirror as she dried her hair. She was wearing mid-thigh black shorts. She was also wearing ¾ black cotton nets covered by a soft red hoodie with front pockets. She left immediately after wearing her training shoes. She jumped down the almost empty roads and up silently in the rooftops of the houses that led to the training grounds with the waterfall.

She arrived there shortly. She looked around and found the empty place relaxing. She went directly in front of the waterfall and sat down in front of it. She started to steady and focus her chakra. Surrounding her was a circular trail of her chakra. She was mightily impressive as she slowly made her chakra tower over her in a shape of a dragon.

As she trained, Rikuto hid perfectly at the top of a tree observing the beautiful kunoichi from a distance. Her hair fluttered about her back and each strands seemed inviting. He smiled to himself as she slowly loosed focus and the once mightily face of the dragon slowly disappeared into thin air. Annoyed, she stood up angrily and shouted hate curses against the ninjas who doesn't take care of their health, about how there are a lot of paper works, and how people think of her as a workaholic. He particularly liked what she said last:

"Especially you damn cocky anbu! Screw you!"

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Continuation will be uploaded next time.


	4. Chapter 3: Searching for an Angel

**Author's Note**

I kind of feel bad but I admit, i'm always the slow one to upload the continuation of my stories.

I sometimes neglect what I'm writing but I do feel the same when I see a good story and the author just don't upload.

I'll try to keep up until I finish the story.

Here's Sasuke for this short continuation.

Enjoy and review!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Search for an Angel**

"I'm afraid… we can't do something about it." A hand enveloped the shirt of the man that immediately closed his eyes to brace the pain that might hit him. Luckily for him, his attacker was feeling considerate. The raven-haired man who had dark frustrated eyes pierced the man with his deathly gaze. He won't gain anything from killing a medical ninja who also said the same thing like what those previous ones before him said.

Even if he did kill the man in front of him and by chance he would feel a little bit relieved, there was nothing he can do about the condition he was in. He already heard those words for the tenth time already and every time he did, he always felt miserable. This was getting him nowhere.

He allowed them to stay there with him for another couple of days, locked away in a prison cell before deciding to let them go. He was trying to check if their minds would change and perhaps being together with other medical ninjas would inspire something that might heal his condition. Nothing happened of the sort. Even if he used his sharingan, he would only get the truth- they can't fix him. He was going blind. He hated that idea but he braced himself for the worse as he started training himself in the dark.

He didn't give up though. He decided he would try to get another ninja to check his condition. He chanced upon one medical ninja from the Land of Sand and ambushed him immediately when he was given the chance. After threatening the sand ninja to examine him, he said the exact same thing. It's not fixable.

"You must be Uchiha Sasuke from the Village Hidden by Leaves." Sasuke brought up his sword to his neck. No one is supposed to know who he was. This man had a death wish and he was willing to give him that. His eyes wavered as he gazed at him with his Sharingan but he still tried to keep a cool front, deserving to be called a ninja of his own right.

"Any last words?" he asked, his eyes flaming red. The other swallowed hard and tried to mouth out something.

"Tenshi." He finally whispered. Sasuke crossed his brows and tried to push the blade further in the guy's neck. A small trickle of blood flowed down in the guy's neck.

"Calling Angels now?" he asked calmly.

"I've heard that you've been targeting a lot of Medical Ninja. I'll be the one to tell you… it won't work. We're not as knowledgeable as the Tenshi." Sasuke brought down the man and kicked him on the gut. The other screamed in pain but he recovered almost immediately when he tried to heal the pain with a green aura that enveloped his right hand. Sasuke allowed that.

"Speak." He said as he fronted him with his blade. He was getting impatient but he had this feeling that this was one of the breaks he had been waiting for. A lead.

"I can only tell you this because no one knows her exactly. We only know she's a female with pink hair. She wears a mask and a white raincoat and goes around missions that require a high level of healing. Only the Kages and her village know her personally." Sasuke was almost dumbstruck when he heard him say of a female kunoichi with pink hair. There was only one woman who entered his mind and that was none other than the annoying pink-headed girl who always bothered him in Team 7. He radically shook that idea away. It was impossible for someone like her to earn the trust of the Kages.

"Where do I find her?" Sasuke asked.

"E-even if you go around all the villages, you won't find her. No one is willing to talk about her- name or other things. She's famous but at the same time, she's not." After a few moment of silence, Sasuke struck the man from behind the neck with his hand. He'll let him leave but he would have to erase his memory of this particular encounter. He needs to leave this place at once and look for that Tenshi who seems particularly famous in the circle of the medical ninjas. There was a bit of hesitation in his mind though. Although, he can only think of Sakura for the moment, she might not be the one he was looking for.

Honestly, he didn't want to see them again, Kakashi, Naruto or her. If he tried to approach Sakura, despite the fact that he wasn't sure if she was the one or not, he will risk an encounter with the Konoha Village. Besides, his only memory of her was her crying, pathetic face. He looked at his palm as he leaped from one tree to another. "I have to make sure."

He said as he went towards the route going to Konoha.

* * *

It was a short update but I brought out Sasuke as promised :)


	5. Chapter 4: Separation Anxiety

**Author's Note**

I don't know why I'm on a roll today and I keep telling myself to update faster. So here it is, another update.

I also hope you like Rikuto (a character i just got from nowhere in my mind)

I promise that there will be a lot of Sasuke scenes soon. I'm just building up my tempo so I can arrive there cleanly.

Otherwise, enjoy and review this update :)

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Separation Anxiety**

After Sakura finished checking all the documents that were on her table, she stretched her arms to the sides to loosen up. She felt empowered after doing all that work only because she didn't think she would finish up early. She smiled to herself and gave her shoulders a good pat in the back. She'd be able to go and eat dinner outside and probably start training early. The thought got her excited.

When she stood up and took a step away from her chair, Rikuto appeared before her, kneeling down like every good ANBU. She frowned when she saw that particular cat mask bowed down. He was such an actor in front of her friends but every time he would catch her alone, he'd say all those perverted stuff. She blushed when she started thinking about what he said to her before. She'll be the most stupid woman in Konoha if she fell in love with Rikuto- however much charming or cunning he is. They were suicide mercenaries of Konoha after all. One moment they're alive, the next day, they're not. It'll be a life full of heartbreak.

Rikuto has been with her for a month and so far people think he's doing a good job. Though he was tasked to protect the healer 24/7, he's been loosening her up, bit by bit. She's been smiling a lot, and she hangs out with her fellow batch mates more often than before. She always takes her break after she finished her job for the day and she delegates task to other members of the hospital too. One time, Sarah tried to tease her about answering the letters if she had time. "Why not?" was her only answer. Surprised, Sarah went ahead and told her some tips, adding that she should turn them down personally so that she'd see how the other would look like in case she changes her mind. Sakura blushed but thought about it. She'll start tonight since she's a bit free… until he came in, waiting to be recognized.

"What is it Rikuto?" she asked almost annoyed that he had to come and take time in her free hours.

"I need to speak to you." He stood up and exited the room. Not knowing what he had to say, she followed him, saying goodbye to Sarah who somehow squealed in excitement. Unlike the others, Sarah had this observation that Sakura has a major crush to her ANBU protector. She'd deny it obviously since Rikuto's always been listening to her conversations with her secretary and he would, undoubtedly tease her afterwards.

"What is it?" Sakura asked. Rikuto turned around to face her. They were on top of the Leaf Hospital, overlooking some of the smaller buildings surrounding their building. It was still early in the afternoon and thankfully it wasn't that hot outside. Sakura observed the masked man in front of her. He's been acting strange these past few days in the sense that he's been acting strangely normal like what other ANBU members do.

"The Hokage told me to relay a message to you." He started. Sakura perked up with the word "Hokage" and almost automatically, straightened herself up as if she was in the very presence of her master.

"Tsunade-sama? What did she want to tell me?" she looked on and nodded for him to continue.

"It's been a month since the last kidnapping of the medical ninja and according to Team 7's report, there is no sign that there will be a next attack." he started.

"Basically, Hokage-sama wanted you to know that if you want to go in a mission, you'd be assigned to one immediately. End of Message." Sakura turned around to look at the village. She's been itching to go out and do a mission but because of the problems last month, she wasn't allowed to. She'd never turn this opportunity down. When she looked back Rikuto has moved in closer to her silently. He kept his distance away and was looking at the same view she was looking at.

"What will happen... I-I mean, how about you?" Rikuto brought a hand to his mask and moved it to the side. Sakura's surprised face did not escape him but only bothered to look at her when he finished adjusting the mask to the side of his face. He immediately turned his head towards her to look at those clear emeralds that was observing him closely. He smirked when she turned her head, face flushing with a bright color.

"What about me?" he repeated the question with a teasing smile.

"You know what I want to ask so stop teasing me already..." she said, her voice obviously flustered. Rikuto couldn't stop laughing internally. He never saw anyone so nervous asking a question before. Sakura was especially good at making this fun for him.

"You want to know where I'll stay since the threat with you is now over right?" Sakura only nodded. She tried turning her head to look at him since he rarely moved his mask away from his face. She always stopped midway because she knew that he'd tease her much more than before. But in one attempt to look at him, he held her shoulders and assisted her to turn around so that her back faced the fence and she was frontal with the ANBU captain.

"Where do you want me to stay?" he asked as he locked her with both his arms on the side. Sakura flushed and tried to look away only to be stopped by Rikuto's hand that held her chin in place.

"Just answer me… why do you always have to play this game?" she said looking down. Her hands clenched the wiring of the fence tightly. She could feel her heart beating fast as he inched in closer to her. "It's much more fun to see you like this than to see you so stressed out with work you know." He answered.

"Rikuto…" she pouted and he just laughed at how she was taking all this.

"I can't tell you Sakura. It's classified." He said as he moved away, placing the mask back to his face. He stopped to look at her surprised face but then decided to move away with a slight hesitation. "It's nice working with you in this mission Sakura. You were really fun." Sakura felt something stopped as he slowly moved away farther from her. Her mind flashed back to the thought of the Uchiha leaving before her very eyes. She started breathing heavily when both the images of their back leaving her overlapped her mind.

"W-wait! Don't leave!" she shouted. The man stopped midway and caught the woman who almost ran to catch him before he disappeared.

"What is it?" Sakura didn't know what to say but she knew she had to stop him. She stuttered a few times trying to make excuses. With her head bowed down, Rikuto smiled and removed his mask unbeknownst to Sakura. She was at it for a few more seconds before Rikuto placed a hand on her lips.

"Do you like me?" Her eyes widened when she heard those words. Rikuto had move to lift her chin so that she was facing him, inches away from his face. Her face turned red again as she was once again drowned in his eyes. It took her a while to answer but finally said something after a few more seconds. "I-I don't know…" Rikuto smiled. He already expected her to be so confused but seeing her squirm with his straightforwardness made it much more worthwhile to see.

"Do you feel like you want to kiss me?" Sakura tried to back away but he kept his other arm securely on her back to pull her closer to him. "No running Haruno Sakura." Surprised, she gave in and gave up escaping his hold.

"Maybe…" With one last smile, Rikuto leaned in for a kiss. His soft gentle strokes egged her on to kiss him back which she did so naturally. Sakura gently placed her arms at the back of his neck to pull him closer to her and he obliged, almost lifting her up in answer. After a few seconds, she pulled away from him to breath. She first thought it was amazing and after a few more seconds, she scolded herself. She might be really stupid falling for him. Before she could say anything else, he pulled away from her and placed his mask back on.

"Sakura, I'll see you around." Without waiting for her to reply, he disappeared. She clenched her fist tightly, a vein almost popping out from her temples. "You damn cursed ANBU!" a tear fell from her eyes and she started sobbing without really knowing the reason why.

* * *

This cunning ANBU... Just kiss and leave her like that? What do you think? Please review :)


	6. Chapter 5: Rikuto, Mission and the Past

**Author's Note**

I'm sorry guys. I wanted to upload the continuation much faster but i got lazy the first 2 days.

I'll make up for it today.

Here's a very long update for you to enjoy!

Hope you review!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Rikuto, Mission and the Past**

Sakura woke up early and took a warm bath. After she finished, she casted a frown when she saw herself in front of the mirror. Her eyes swelled up so much than she expected it. She did try to lessen what she called as "bulging bags" around her eyes but it was still noticeable. She sighed and cursed herself. If only she didn't think a lot yesterday and focused herself to sleep, this wouldn't have to happen.

But she couldn't help it. Her thoughts seemed to try and playback all the memories she both had with her former teammate and now former bodyguard. She was reminded about Sasuke and how team 7 would spend a lot of time together and how in the end, Uchiha chose to leave seeking for power and revenge. She was right there when he left.

Her thoughts began to deviate to that particular ANBU captain who would always appear wherever and whenever he wanted to. It was the way he would disturb her while she cooked dinner and the way he would tease her about being a workaholic that would make his stay with her memorable however much annoying he had been. And yes, she was also right there when he left.

They really seem to overlap. Rikuto's eyes, she thought, were vaguely similar to that of the Uchiha that she carefully locked away in the very depths of her heart- those over-confident eyes brimming with cunningness and wit can only be found in few. It may be that, when he walked away from her and disappeared from her sight, she merely remembered the pain her former teammate caused her.

She sighed.

Sakura thought of just wanting to laze around today and do nothing but train. She didn't feel like looking at that handful of documents that's sitting on her office table right now. She would imagine how it'd be doubly high by tomorrow if she didn't go in today. She closed her eyes and smacked her head with a brush for thinking about skipping work. If that shameless Rikuto snooped around and knew she didn't go to the Hospital, he'd probably think it was because of what happened. She didn't want that. He'd definitely tease her if ever she saw him again. With that she dressed up and left for Konoha's Hospital.

O.O.O.O

"Sarah? Did you hear me?" Sarah stared at her for another second before she reacted to what she just said. She brought down the brown teapot with the accentuated pink cherry blossoms on it on top of the table.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to hearing that you want to leave early today." Sakura crossed her brows and thought about it for a moment. _That's true_, she thought. She never requested for an early break before and before she knew it, her life became a routine where everybody in the village knows where she was and where to always find her.

In the morning, she'll be in the Leaf Hospital dealing with the documents submitted the day before, in the early afternoon, she'll be reporting to the Hokage about mission casualties and important updates regarding key ninjas who are sent out for important missions, and during her late afternoons, she'll do her rounds to check up on patients. On her evenings, which only some people knows, she'd be training on her chakra control to achieve that pin point precision and manipulation. And yes, she never deviated from that life even once. No wonder she's surprised that she's trying to make a minor change in her routine.

"Well, I'm going to Tsunade-sama. I'll probably try to take a mission to keep me moving. It's been a long time since I was allowed to go out after all." The other woman smiled and nodded her head. She went closer to the table to take the empty teacup that was once full of Sakura's favorite tea.

"That's true. You might feel better if you go out." Sakura bit her lip but immediately followed it with a fake smile. Sarah looks like an ordinary Leaf citizen but she's in fact really keen about everything. She'd always know if she hasn't eaten anything yet or whenever she needed tea even if she didn't tell her anything at all. It was the Hokage who hand picked her and assigned her to that place after she collapsed from over-working some years before. After that, her life became easier to handle. There were few to none of that stress she used to handle before. It was all thanks to her.

"What makes you think I don't feel good today?" she challenged, cringing in the process for being a little curious how she does it. She didn't want the conversation to go to that direction where she might be forced to tell her what happened yesterday.

"The only ones you can fool on thinking that you slept late are those people who don't know you so well." She said with confidence while she finished her sentence with a smug smile. Sakura sighed.

"Is it that obvious…?" she tried to ascertain, almost giving up in trying to fool her with her fake smiles. "You want me to lie…?" Sakura shook her head and raised both her hands up. "You got me already…"

"So anyway, I'll delegate this stuff to you." She immediately said, trying to change the topic to give her the folders that were previously on her table. Sarah accepted it with both arms, trying to secure the documents in case a paper falls out. She had a faint smile on her face.

"About time Sakura. You keep hogging all the work in this office." Sakura looked confused but smiled right after. Although she knows that she's been doing the work for three people, she wanted to first handedly check the documents herself so she'd know everything immediately without the need for someone to relay the information to her.

"You think?" she nudged her head to the side cutely.

"The only work left for me is to serve you tea and accept the love letters from the men who like you." Sakura scratched the back of her head and bowed her head in apology. Sarah just laughed and placed the documents on top of her own table by the corner.

"I'll watch myself from now on." She laughed. "I'll go now Sarah… please make a complete report on those documents… and…" she stopped to walk closer to her. She hugged her and patted her back twice before she separated herself from her. "Thanks for everything…"

"T-Take care." When Sakura left her office, Sarah had a nasty feeling she might not see her soon. She walked towards the window where she left and saw her silhouette heading towards the office of the Hokage.

'Be careful…' she heard herself say.

o.o.o.o

"What happened to your eyes?" Was the very first question she asked when she entered the room. She faked a smile and shook her head.

"Tsunade-sama, it's nothing." The Hokage of Leaf was not one to back down unless she had made a conclusion about something she's interested to know. Sakura know that fully well. The way she observed her from head to feet made her wary that she'll say something out of the blue and be completely right.

"Did a man make you cry?" Sakura's mouth twitched as she tried to swallow that hard lump that formed in her throat. Tsunade, being dense at times only intended it as a joke so when she followed it with a laugh, Sakura had to laugh along so she wouldn't get caught. Their laughter died down revealing a fairly serious Hokage on the Master Seat.

"Anyway, Sakura." Tsunade closed a folder that she was holding. "Are you ready to take a mission?" Sakura took in a deep breath and nodded her head. "Yes, Hokage-sama." Tsunade smiled at her. She stood up and walked towards her window that revealed the whole of the Leaf Village in sight.

"Well truthfully, we've been having a lot of request from people outside the village to send you in as Tenshi. Lately, there are a lot of very important people who are being targeted by a force that seems like a platoon in size. It's very random. All of the victims are seriously injured but none that their medical ninjas can't fix. They just want you to check if there's anything wrong so that they'd remain complacent." Sakura received the briefing of the situation and started to form the story in her mind. She thought that there should be something similar in the victims that made them an interesting target for that pursuer.

"Your mission is to follow up all the patients that were targeted by this unknown pursuer then immediately report back to me." Sakura stood in attention and accepted the mission with a scroll in her hand.

"Umm… Tsunade-sama, can I request Team 7 for this one?" The older woman sighed and shook her head. "That would be impossible. They're requesting you as the Tenshi. You do know what this means right?" Sakura stopped and lowered her head down. She nodded in vain as the truth struck her painfully.

It was her contributions in the previous war that made her rank as a medical ninja raise several steps on top than before. She was among those secretly recognized by the five leaders of the allied nations as one of the most indispensible kunoichi and as such, she became someone very important to Konoha and other villages.

Hearing about her fame, a lot had tried to employ and take her but because only hear say about her achievements and her pink hair heard those who were interested to use her, she had to wear a white jacket with all the allied villages signs sewed at the back, a hoodie to hide her pink hair as much as possible and blue contacts to change her green eyes. It was only later on that she earned the name, "Momoiro Tenshi." As the Tenshi, whenever she's outside the village, she's to be protected by all the other villages in exchange for her services. That's the only reason why her identity has not been revealed to just anybody except for the whole of the ANBU force in every villages.

"As usual, you'll be protected by a team headed by Rikuto." Out from the corners, Rikuto appeared just after his name was mentioned. Sakura's eyes widened from the shock of seeing _him_ again. But more than the shock, she was mostly annoyed at this revelation. He must already had the idea that he was heading this mission if ever she decided to take a mission from the Hokage. She felt a tick escape the side of her eyes.

"Is there a problem?" Tsunade asked, looking back and forth from the female kunoichi to the alpha male that was on the other side of the room. She gritted her teeth. _Of course this is a problem!_ She let the inner Sakura do the talking hoping Tsunade could somehow hear what she wanted to say.

"C-Can I request for a different ANBU force?" she began with a smile. Before the Hokage mused about it, Rikuto with his cat mask on spoke. That familiar voice made her feel that he's teasing her again.

"Am I not enough Miss Haruno?" he said with a low voice. Tsunade looked at Sakura as if having the same question as that of the ANBU captain.

_Yes!_ She thought again. "No-Not really…" Her inner Sakura looked at her and couldn't believe that she just said that.

"I see, then if you decide to take on this mission, you should leave now. They're already getting anxious." Sakura nodded weakly. She knew that the moment she agreed, there will be another adventure with Rikuto and that made her feel anxious.

"I accept this mission Hokage-sama." From within his mask, Sakura knew he smiled. He just won this round.

O.o.o.O

"Sakura…" She walked away without looking back. Luckily she was able to prepare all her stuff without Rikuto disturbing how she'd put her clothes in her bag. In fact, he was not allowed to enter her room without being glared heavily at. He already knew what this was about and he gave up teasing long ago when he saw that she wasn't in the mood for it.

They were on the road in the clearing in front of the whole village along with two other members of the ANBU. They started walking the whole lot when Sakura suggested she needed the time to get her muscles running again. But she addressed it to one of the other ANBU, trying to avoid directly talking to Rikuto as much as possible. The ANBU had no choice but to consult their captain about it who answered him with a nod.

"Sakura… can you hear me?" He didn't stop calling her despite the weird looks the other two ANBU members gave him. He was known for this kind of attitude in their circle after all and they definitely had no say about it unless they were someone higher than him in ranks. Unfortunately, they were not.

Rikuto approached her closer and tried to lean his body to her to whisper on her ear. "Sa-ku-ra…" Sakura turned around, covering hears along with the hoodie that covered her head. She gritted her teeth while her flustered face showed every embarrassment that she was feeling.

"Damn it, I can hear you, don't whisper in my ear like that…" Rikuto just smiled. Lucky for him he had his mask on so she wasn't able to know how fun he was taking everything. Her reactions were always warm and funny at the same time. He never fails to enjoy it whenever he starts teasing her.

"That's because you wouldn't turn around." He said, he played his voice in a down casted tone as if pretending that he was hurt from being ignored.

"I wouldn't turn around?" She gritted her teeth before she fixed her black gloves in her hands. She gave in to her irritation and began throwing loud, air-splitting punches towards Rikuto who was literally surprised at the first punch she threw.

"You…" Rikuto nudged his head to the left when he received a full frontal punch from the woman in front of him.

"Should have…" He ducked this time when Sakura swept her arm to the side to try and hit the ANBU captain. She gritted her teeth and swore she'll stop if she just have the opportunity to hit him just once.

"Told me this was the plan!" she tried to kick him instead but to no avail. She was breathing hard when she finished. Surprised to see how she performed an act of violence in front of two very surprised ANBU's, Sakura was back to her senses and tried to fix her clothes as if trying to assure herself that she was in still in control. Sakura stopped and tried to calm herself by breathing. She fixed her white hoodie and covered her face that was similar to the Aburame's coat.

Rikuto whistled when she finished. Those were very fierce shots, he assumed. He almost stopped a giggle that escaped from his lips. He didn't want to make her made further.

"Well I told you it's classified." She burrowed her brows and scoffed off without saying anything. Every time she imagines that scene in the rooftop and how she sobbed after, she felt that he played her and that annoyed her much more.

When he saw her walking again, almost increasing her pace to run, Rikuto followed suit after a contented sigh. She never fails to amuse him, is what he thought.

After some time, Sakura felt a little concerned with her accompanying escorts. Although Tsunade told her that there were no more threats of being attacked, she had kept her guard up and maintained her focus on the diameter where the four of them were keeping. Rikuto took the front lead and she was placed on the center where the other two ANBU members surrounded her. Sakura slowed down the pace and the three took notice of the change of her speed. Rikuto specially turned his back while jumping from branch to branch just to check what was going on.

"What's the problem?" Rikuto asked, confused at the sudden drop of pace. Finally, Sakura halted in one branch and jumped down in the center of a clearing in the forest.

"Have you guys been in a previous mission before this?" The two other ANBU looked at each other and tried to know where this was all going. They both looked at the other man who was clearly being ignored by the woman. Rikuto nodded once to allow them to answer.

"We've been in the north following the traces of a group of criminals before this." Sakura sighed. She figured out that much. Their chakras were not up to par to do a mission. This would instantly result to a greater casualty in battle if they were faced to one right now. Annoyed at the revelation, she looked back at Rikuto to try and say something.

"Let's rest for awhile. We'll double our pace tomorrow." Sakura settled down her things and stretched her muscles to try and relax. The other three men seemed confused with her decision but decided to go along with it only because of their captain's approval. She wasn't going to take no for an answer even if Rikuto objected to her decision though. He had no say in this. She only thought this was the best course of action. If things go wrong along the way, she'd be the one protecting the two men instead of the other way around. They'd be mere human shields if something happened.

She once again realized that this was one of the reasons why she didn't want to work with the ANBU. They do not have any common sense to rest their bodies.

They tried to set up a mini camp in that clearing. One of the members was in charge of dinner and he had fished near the river to prepare it for food. He finished it with a fire jutsu and prepared it in parts for all the three members of the team. After dinner, just like she had expected, the other two refused to rest and decided they would remain awake to perform a jutsu to establish a shield to protect her. Sakura sighed at their stubbornness and she could hear Rikuto almost having to giggle as she tried to deal with his team.

"ANBU are different Sakura." She knew that.

The woman burrowed her eyebrows when she remembered what he said. She tried her best to shun his voice out from her head to concentrate on her daily training. An hour passed and she decided she had enough for the day. When she stood up and turned around, she immediately saw Rikuto without his mask on. He was sitting in a lotus position, meditating in regulating his chakra (and Sakura thought he was doing a pretty good job). Only when she took another step did he open his eyes revealing that same black orbs again.

"Done?" he asked. Sakura merely bowed her head and went pass him without uttering a single word. Rikuto raised a brow and grabbed hold of Sakura's wrist before she even went pass beyond his reach.

"Are you mad at me?" Sakura grinned at his ignorance before she turned her head away. "Isn't it obvious?" Rikuto sighed and pulled her towards the tree that was a few feet distant from where they were. He threw her gently with her back facing the soft peeling barks of the old tree. He encased her with both his arms on the side and made her look at his face as he spoke again.

"I'm still right here Sakura. Why are you mad at me?" She couldn't speak. It's not as if she can immediately tell him that she felt extremely embarrassed from the way she acted when he left her that day on the rooftop. No, she can't tell him anything at all.

"You don't have to know." She said nudging her head to the side to avoid his inquisitive eyes. Only when she felt his face drawing in closer to hers did she surprisingly turned to face him and tried to stop him. Inches away, he stopped and smiled.

"I didn't want to part with you too. You need someone to take care of you Sakura. You're a handful." Sakura almost objected but the way he looked at her made her unable to say anything.

"Can I kiss you?" Beet red from the way he seriously asked that question, Sakura couldn't say anything logical at the moment. Like, "Go die stupid," or "Shut up…" like those times before when he would lean in and try to steak a kiss or two. This time, she didn't know why but she felt her head nod. He smiled before he closed in on her lips. He licked it a couple of times before he embraced her lips with his soft ones. Sakura, almost egged on to reply, unexpectedly returned the kiss. Her hands that were on the side climbed its way up on his hard walled chest without his usual gray protectors.

The warmth of her lips made him inch forward towards her gentle attacker. He had long moved his lips from her mouth, travelling down to the exposed crook of her neck leaving a trail of kisses that made Sakura bit her lower lip from the sensation it gave her. A silent gasp of pleasure escaped her mouth as he bit a small part of her skin. Realizing what she did, she immediately covered her mouth with her free hand. Rikuto got it first and moved her hand on top of her head.

"I want to be the only one who hear that moan." He said playfully. He had allowed himself some time to look at the alluring woman in front of him that was almost drowning herself with the color of red. He smiled but instead of diving in again to illicit that sound he heard her do, he backed away, gently allowing her to return back to her normal embarrassed position.

"Seems like someone couldn't wait until we finished." At first Sakura thought he was talking to her. She was about to get mad until another aura made its presence known. Out from the corners of the trees, Sakura felt the familiar chakra of the person she thought she wouldn't encounter anymore in her lifetime.

The light of the moon helped them to reveal the face of that familiar silhouette of a particular raven-haired man directly across them. Sakura soon realized who it was. Only he was much more taller, charming and confident than the last time she saw him. Her body shook when the name that escaped her mouth was the same name of the person she had hidden inside her heart all those years.

"Sa-Sasuke…"

* * *

I didn't double checked it cause I just want to finish it. But yeah, the sense is there. Hopefully you guys tell me what you think and I'll fix it in the next chapter :0


	7. Chapter 6: Sasuke

**AUTHOR's NOTE**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME~ YEY!**

Sorry, this update took a **long while to upload**. That's because this chapter is **really long.**

The reviews are one of my t_reasured birthday presents_. Thanks for reading!

I'll be really busy next week so I might not be able to post another update soon.

(That's why this update is long)

**I'll try my best though :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Sasuke**

Her body shook remembering the young man from across the multitude of her locked memories. Sasuke looked intimidating like before and he had that expressionless face staring at both of them. It was really him- his hair, his stand and his eyes that still bored hatred to the world. Seconds pass, as silence between the two parties pursued. She started to feel the weight of reality sinking in. Sasuke was staring at them without any sound.

It has been what? Eight years since she last saw him and he didn't change one bit. Anxiety was inevitable… so was fear. It didn't help when she remembered that time when Sasuke tried to kill her without even batting an eye. She knew he could kill them if he wanted it.

_But why was he here?_

_Did he specifically came with a purpose or was he just passing by?_

A trail of thought ran in her mind up until Rikuto went forward to block her view of the Uchiha that was on the other side of the plains.

"Sasuke. You've been following us." Sakura stared at Rikuto when he said that in a matter of fact tone. It was as if he knew it from the very start.

_He was? When? _She was clearly disturbed by the fact that he knew and she didn't. Sasuke must have been pretty far from her if she never felt it and Rikuto must have keener senses than her if he managed to pick his aura up. What was more surprising was that the ANBU captain knew it from the very start without acting a bit strange. He must be a sensory type, she concluded… and a good actor which was already a proven fact.

Whatever reason why he was there, it may not be the noblest of ideas. He had proven himself after he sided with the Akatsuki that he was a lone man. It'd be a good thing if they manage to escape him alive. He was no ordinary ninja after all. She swallowed and gazed at Rikuto. Clenching her fists tightly, she thought of the worst-case scenario.

She grabbed the shirt of the man beside her and tugged it twice. She doesn't know the skills or abilities of the ANBU captain but she certainly know what Sasuke's sharingan can do. Despite her worries, Rikuto smiled warmly and placed a hand on top of her head. "You don't have to worry," only made her worries worse.

"I came here with one purpose," Sasuke's voice was low but it was still the same after all those years. It was a bit charming too if she may add. If only he was on their side, there wouldn't be any debate whether or not it was the right time to praise the vocals of the enemy.

"You want her right? Probably not in the same way I want her though." Rikuto felt smug. It was because he knew why there was an Uchiha in front of them now.

Apparently, Sasuke doesn't have the common sense when to show up. He didn't have to appear when he was ravishing the woman beside her, especially now that she had accepted him in her personal space. On the other hand, Sakura immediately darted a look at Rikuto. She can't believe how he would still try to joke during this circumstance. She tried to peer behind the ANBU's back to check out her former teammate. She could see the look of irritation pasted on his face. It somehow lighted up after a few seconds when he grabbed the sheath of his katana.

"If you know then there's no need for discussion." Sasuke flashed a grin as he got out the sword from its protector. Rikuto raised his arm to the side to cover for the girl if by chance Sasuke decided to attack immediately.

Sakura deepened her frown. She didn't want to cling to his back nor she wanted to become a liability for Rikuto. She can fight for her own safety. She was one step from moving away from his back but she found herself glued to the ground. Unlike Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke's backs that made her feel that she couldn't do anything; Rikuto's did not condemn her for being weak. In fact, he of all people knows what she can do. She certainly did not need his protection. She guessed that it must have been an ANBU or a Male thing.

"Uchiha, you've been kidnapping medical ninjas and you're also responsible for injuring a lot of Village elders tying to lure the Tenshi out. Am I right?" He did not speak. Instead he walked towards them like a predator. He took small, silent strides as if trying to observe what they would do next. Rikuto sighed and snapped his fingers to the side. Almost twenty people came out all at once, wearing their cloak and cat masks.

Her two other escorts joined in immediately and tried to use a fog jutsu to erase the aura of their chakras. As their view totally concealed everyone else's chakra, Rikuto did not ask permission to topple the woman off her feet so that she'd fall on his hands. He smiled and ensured that she was secured in his arms before he started running.

"There's no time." He whispered as he tried to jump away from the scene. When she looked back, all she could see was the fog that swallowed the whole area. She didn't hear anything at all.

Sakura flinched. She couldn't help but think that Rikuto just offered a lot of his men to Sasuke so they both could escape. This was Sasuke that they were dealing with and they're up against one of the most powerful eyes that they've ever faced.

If Sasuke wasn't born with his Sharingan, those ANBU guys will catch him most definitely. But even with a fog jutsu to conceal them, or any other type of jutsu, when dealing with the Sharingan, it wouldn't be long until Sasuke finish the fight. He will definitely come to pursue them both. At that moment, she realized something vital. _There's no time? _He probably knew that their sole purpose was to buy them time to escape. That left a terrible feeling in her chest. She wouldn't dare sacrifice anyone just to escape. It was plain madness.

She grabbed Rikuto's cloak by the neck and shook it lightly.

"Sasuke will kill them." She could see the man look down swiftly before he looked back at the road he was trekking. After a few moments of silence, he replied with a sigh. "They're going to buy us some time." He said what she feared to hear. She gritted her teeth in response. She knew it. Rikuto knew they didn't have a chance from the very start.

"What will happen to them?" she bit her lip. She already know the answer to that. There were only two possible answers after all. It's either Sasuke feels generous and he won't kill anyone or he might feel irritated and kill them. They either live or they die depending on his mood.

"Sakura, he's the one who kidnapped all the medical ninjas and injured elders from all the villages except for Konoha." He said lowly. "He was luring you out and the Hokage expected this but we didn't have a clue. In case something happened, she ordered a platoon of ANBU's to go with us secretly." Sakura started to realize that this was a much bigger case than she previously imagined. Everything was connected and she wasn't informed about it. Although she had her reasons to be mad, she didn't. Her worries overpowered her anger but silence got a hold of her.

"We will go back to the village using the back route. He must not know you're the Tenshi." Sakura had a confused look on her face. Did she hear it right? She thought that Sasuke knew all this while that Tenshi and Haruno Sakura is one and the same.

"He doesn't know?" she followed. Rikuto lightly shook his head. "He might... but we're not sure if he really does." Sakura tried to think about it. She gave no opportunities for other people to know that she was the Tenshi as it was agreed that only her home village and the ANBU know this secret.

_Was it because of my hair?_ Sasuke must have heard about her from the ninjas he kidnapped and found out about how the Tenshi has pink hair. He must have tried going to her first to see whether or not his suspicions were true. Which was a simple conclusion for being a former teammate. It wasn't had to miss a brightly colored hair such as hers.

"And also, you should forget about them Sakura." Sakura glanced back. She was obviously dismayed about what he just said. He must be referring to his team who's now trying to fight a life or death match with Sasuke. She's reminded of another reason why she didn't like them. They're always the martyrs.

"They're your team mates. You're an ANBU captain. What's wrong with you and what's wrong with me thinking about that especially when I'm the one who has to make every pound of document about deaths and casualties of our village!" she snapped. Surprised, she stayed silent, afraid that what she said had crossed the line. Rikuto sighed and stared down at her. It was the first time he looked at her seriously. She was taken aback by the way he placed his eyes on hers that she almost lost the will to start another argument. She was only giving her opinion and a valid one at that.

"Did you ever wonder why we wear masks?" he asked. He had longed returned his eyes back on the road, jumping up and down from one branch to another. She was caught off guard by the way he asked the question but nevertheless, answered it.

"I know... that much." Everyone in Leaf knows about it. They were like the secret agents of Konoha. Nobody knows who the members of the ANBU corps are or what they do when they're not on missions. Nobody knows how old they are or what kind of life he or she are leading behind those masks. They wear it so they won't be too memorable to one another. It was a cursed mask.

"We're different. We do not operate like Team 7. We value mission than teammates. Believe me when I say, they're happy to die to protect you." And she wasn't. She closed her eyes and prayed to whatever gods were listening to at least whisper some decency to Sasuke so he wouldn't kill anyone from that batch of ANBU. There was an awkward pause between the two of them and the air seemed quite heavy not to notice. Sakura tried to say something but Rikuto snickered making her turn his way instead. She saw him smile at her as he nudged his head to the side.

"Anyway, if you don't stop talking now, I'll be making sure you do something worthwhile with your mouth. I'm getting excited carrying you like this." Utterly surprised, he couldn't hold in his laughter when Sakura immediately placed a hand on her mouth. Although they both know it was a joke, or at least Sakura thinks it is, she started to blush tremendously. She didn't know why Rikuto was still so carefree despite the problems that they are facing but he was special that way. She hid her face using her hands and scolded herself for imagining whatever he had in mind. She couldn't help but deny that she felt a little excited.

0.o.0.o.0

It was Rikuto's decision to stop for a moment. He had a nasty feeling that something already went wrong with the people he had sent to stop the Uchiha. He sent out a pigeon with a letter for the Hokage about the things that occurred during the encounter and things he believed will happen if they encounter Sasuke again.

He left Sakura to sit by a tree, never to move at the circle that he drew around it. Sakura calmly nodded. Rikuto was still the Team leader assigned to this mission. She decided that she was going to follow whatever decision he decides to make. He told her about sending out a letter to the Hokage for back up. They will need another fifteen more hours to get back to the village and they need a group to meet up with them to ensure Sakura's safety. With that, Rikuto decided to go alone, instructing her to stay behind.

Meanwhile, Rikuto made sure that the letter successfully reaches the Hokage by capsuling the bird in a barrier. As he watched the bird until it flew out of sight, he jumped down at the clearing without making a sound. There was another reason why he had to stay away from Sakura and decided to send a letter instead of trying to rush back as fast as possible. He had the weirdest feeling that Sasuke was already closing in and even if they ran, he would only be a continuous threat. He decided that it was high time for a confrontation.

He closed his eyes and searched the trees from his far left. Sasuke emerged with his sharingan activated. He looked like he had a hard time dealing with them and although he was bloody; he doubt that all those blood came only from him. His suspicions were correct when he saw two bloody masks that he was holding. Without warning, he threw it towards Rikuto who caught it seamlessly with his right hand.

"I didn't plan to kill anyone… but there were two who absolutely didn't want me to go through. They said something about protecting the Tenshi. I thought I should let you know." He started. "It was their last words." Rikuto gazed at the mask and figured out whom it belonged to. It was the companions who Sakura cared for. He smiled a bitter one. He was sure that they felt appreciated when she stopped to talk to both of them. It sparked hatred from deep within him but he stopped and calmed himself with a sarcastic smile.

"I see…" Rikuto threw the masks gently aside, which landed perfectly upright in the wet grass. "That's a pity. They really liked her very much." Sasuke, confident as he was, frowned for a moment. He wondered why every time someone spoke about the Tenshi, which he believed with out a doubt was Sakura Haruno herself; they all had this soft, endearing moment.

All he could remember was the pink haired girl that was in his memories. She was the one that always cried and the one that always bothered him. She was foolish and predictable. He remembered, years before when he attempted to kill her because he thought she was so annoying he'd be doing the world a favor, she was the same Sakura even if she improved a little. He knew from the start that she was not the offense type in the same level like Naruto and that she always has the need to be protected. He really can't imagine the girl they seem to give their respect about or if she really was the miraculous Tenshi the five kages recognize.

"You don't seem to understand what I'm saying." He said when he clearly saw his confused face as he started thinking about it. Annoyed at how he read him, he tried to ignore what he was thinking and focused at the ANBU who was poised coolly for someone being threatened.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What do you know about her after eight years? You know nothing." Rikuto accused, clearly irritated at how ignorant he could be. Sakura has been pushing herself so hard to prove to other people that she was someone who can also do something. Whenever she sees Naruto and how he would save the day or reflect on Sasuke who never gave her importance, not once, she resolved to make herself better. Before she knew it, she was already recognized for her art but she was never contented with it.

"Every time I went home, I would see her at the same spot, training even every after of a stressful day. She's kind of stubborn don't you think?" Sasuke nudged his head to the side. He clearly didn't care about it at all. He had his own worries to pity another ninja who can only try so hard to be better because she couldn't keep up. Certainly, he had his own set of worries to worries himself.

"What do I care?" he asked.

"Exactly my point. You don't. That's why she keeps doing what she's doing. She doesn't want to be recognized by the other villages or become famous in the medical field. All she wanted was her team mates recognition." Sasuke scoffed. He felt this was going nowhere. Whatever happened to Sakura, was not in the list of his concerns. What he was concerned about right now was for someone to fix his blurring vision. He can care another time after this was fixed.

"Sasuke, you don't deserve a woman like her." that irked Sasuke and that surprised him. And who deserves to be with her, you? he thought. The ANBU were suicidal ninjas. He knew she wouldn't be happy to have him beside her. Not that he cared, or did he? It was a stupid conjecture.

"You can have her once I'm finished with her. I'm going to use her for my own benefit and you're going to stay out of it." Rikuto deepened a frown.

"Says who?"

"Says me." Sasuke drew out his Katana and poised it over to his front.

"Over my dead body then…" Rikuto got his double blades from his side and positioned it in front of him. He wasn't going down without a fight. Certainly, he wouldn't allow Sasuke to take her without him, doing something about it.

"If you so wish…" Sasuke leaped forwardsand engaged him into a fight.

.0.0

He has been gone for quite some time now and she couldn't help but think that something happened to him. Sure she promised not to go beyond the circle but what if he didn't come back? She started to panic. She had a foreboding when he waved goodbye to her. "I'll be back, don't worry…" was his last words. Sakura stood up from the rock that she has been sitting on, tried to think about it for a while and took her seat again. She has been doing this for five times already and every time she stood up, her worries doubled. She just wants to make sure he was all right, was there something wrong about that? She reasoned.

She stood up one last time and took that appropriate step outside of the circle. When she crossed the line, she felt the barrier that was pushing her back in weaken.

"What was that about?" she looked back and saw nothing out of the ordinary. When her curiosity was killed as to what might have happened to her, she tried to check whether or not she was capable to find Rikuto wherever he was. He'll scold her for sure but that doesn't really matter as long as she knows he is all right.

"Sakura?" She almost jumped from the surprise. It was as if Rikuto instantly knew that she went out of the circle and he came back to reprimand her.

"I'm sorry Rikuto… I was just worri-" Sakura was frozen when she lifted her face up to look at the man that she thought was the captain of the ANBU. She backed away almost readily when she saw Sasuke coming out form the dark. He said her name warmly but almost unsure if he had called it properly. It has been years after all that he last said that name.

"No wonder I couldn't find you, you were inside a barrier…" Sasuke said coolly. His injuries were out in plain view and Sakura knew that he needed mending soon. Not that she would readily offer her services now that she's feeling threatened by his mere presence.

By meaning of a barrier, it might have something to do with the circle Rikuto drew on the ground. If she was right and Sasuke was able to find her because of it, she just made a huge mistake going out of the barrier.

"W-what do you want?" Sakura had a kunai out and ready in front of her. She knows that Sasuke is oblivious about her abilities and that makes it advantageous for her if ever she tries to fight him back. She might raise a possibility that she might win against him.

"Come with me Sakura." He held his hand out in front of her. She was tempted to take it for a moment but remained sane that he wasn't exactly the person she can trust at this moment.

"W-what for?" she questioned. Sasuke frowned and brought his hand down, somewhat annoyed that she had refused his offer. He thought being kind to her would yield a much more positive result. It worked before, why is now different?

"You're not to ask questions. I want you to come alone with me," Sasuke tried to contain the irritation in his voice but Sakura knew he was in a bad mood already. He thought it would be easy to get to her without fighting so much as he did today. Maybe his years of using the Sharingan provided that pride and confidence that he'll be able to do anything he wanted. That was his downfall; he was too complacent.

"What if I don't go?" She asked again. Sasuke thought she wasn't listening to what he just said. Nevertheless, he answered.

"Even if I have to drag you half dead, you will go with me…" Sakura took another step back. She knew she had to outrun this man if she wanted to escape. She started looking around trying to ascertain whether or not Rikuto would be back. If he was a sensory type, he'd be running back here if she went outside that circle. She wondered why he hasn't come back. Did something… happen?

"He won't be coming," he said with a smirk on his face. Sasuke knew what she was thinking. She was still predictable, he thought. If this Sakura shared passionate exchanges with that man, there was no way she wouldn't think about him in her last moments when planning to escape. And as expected, Sakura was fixed on the ground trying to fight out the negative shock she had been feeling for quite some time now.

"W-what do you mean by that?" He definitely said he'd be back. Sasuke was uttering simple nonsense. Her mind went on and on with reasons. He was still alive, she knows.

"I see… You should be able to recognize who that mask belongs to then…" Sasuke threw a familiar cat mask over to her side and Sakura briefly glanced down to double check it. There was no doubt it belonged to him. She felt as if the earth shook beneath her feet as she suddenly lost strength to remain standing.

"W-what did you do to him?" Sasuke looked at her fragility and couldn't find the right words to answer her truthfully. He knew there was only one answer and he can't sugar coat a description of death by his hands even if he wanted to.

"Sasuke, speak up!" Sakura shouted again. This time, he saw her glaring at him.

"He's dead." He finally answered.

"H-he's not... he promised…" Sakura embraced herself.

"I killed him with my own two hands…" he said as he tried to recall what happened earlier before he went out to search for her.

++Flashback++

"You're quite irritating." Sasuke huffed as he did one last shove in the sword he was holding. Rikuto knew it was his time but tried to hold on to him as much as possible. A blood trickled down at the side of his mouth when he started coughing out blood. He managed to smile, that's always a bad sign right? He thought. Although he managed to inflict some damage to the Uchiha, he feared it wasn't enough to stop him from taking Sakura.

"Y-you're quite annoying too…" Rikuto answered back. Sasuke pulled away from him and gave him one last kick, making him land with his back on a tree. He sat there unmoved, trying his best to do something. He knew if he let him go, Sasuke would just destroy Sakura's life that she managed to fix for eight long years. He didn't want that to happen.

"I never expect you to do this much… why offer your life for her? It's pathetic." Rikuto closed his eyes and tried his best to answer. He didn't have much time to live anyway. It wouldn't be bad to give one or two more insults before he died.

"Pathetic? Yeah. I wanted to do a lot of things with her. You ruined it you stupid brat." Sasuke scoffed at that idea. He started thinking about those things he wanted to do to her and nothing normal seemed to cross his mind. He had to give it to him though; he fought him till the end.

"Any last wish?" he managed to say out of respect for the man.

"Yeah, please tell her…" Sasuke opened his eyes and returned his view to the girl in front of her. Although he promised to tell her the words he said, somehow he didn't want to say it.

"He died, I killed him. That's what happened." Sasuke narrated as he walked towards her to make her see the full glory of his injuries. Rikuto got to him too and he's already weak from fighting those ANBU members. Sakura was tempted to fix him as if it was the right thing to do but she remained unmoved, shocked at what she just heard. Finally, she regained control of herself.

"No…" Sakura stood up, facing Sasuke defiantly. Her body shook as she tried to control her anger. She surprised herself how she stood up against Sasuke, a man she previously tried to kill but couldn't. In fact, she didn't even care whether he starts to try attacking her. She was complacent in one thing. If what Rikuto told her was true, he needed her for something and she was willing to wager that even if tried, he won't kill her.

Knowing that, she formed a triangular shape using both her hands and tried to mentally heighten her senses using her chakra. She tried to locate the shinobi that had failed to fulfill the promise to come back. As long as she was near, she won't let him die.

She figured he would be near and she was right. She tried to walk towards the direction where he was located but he was stopped by a swipe from Sasuke's Katana that she easily avoided. She continued her way without being threatened with that attack.

"Sakura, I'm warning you." Sakura stopped only to look back at Sasuke, her eyes, almost threatening him to let her go. She backed away and started to run as fast as she could only to be stopped once again by a chidori strike from her back, which she foiled by knocking his arm to the side. He launched his second attack by kicking her in the stomach. Sakura held her other arm in front of it to catch the impact. She wasn't about to let him attack her without a fight.

"I promise I'll go with you. I heard you're not sure of my abilities. Use this chance to see if I'm worth taking or not!" Sasuke stopped to frown at her stubbornness. She had a point. If he allowed her to go, he'll be able to see if she was even worth taking. Sasuke closed his eyes and withdrew his sharingan. Sakura was delighted with his decision and immediately took the chance to run towards Rikuto.

She saw him splattered on the floor, the grass turned red from his blood. Obviously, she was distraught with the sight but instead of wallowing from the pain, she knelt down, trying to establish whether he was alive or not… whether he can still be saved. Luckily, however much faint, he still had a pulse.

Sakura then performed a series of seals with her hands, biting a tip of her skin on her thumb to squeeze a small amount of blood. "Summoning Jutsu." Out from below her, a small circle of light enveloped her. It lasted a couple of seconds before something materialized from her back. It looked like a well-made puppet, better than those used in the Land of Sand. Its red hair was long and strikingly beautiful. The eyes were pure pearls of white and its lips were sealed with a stitching. Its flesh was a smooth and well-carved wood with globular joints and it wore a long cape that covered the rest of its body. The fingers were surgical instruments ranging from a scalpel, syringe, needles and a cauterizing pen. What was more impressive was how it floated at Sakura's back with only strings attached on her fingers, joints and spinal cord.

Sasuke watched as the hair of the doll enveloped the arms and feet of the ANBU captain, trying to levitate and suspend the man in front of her. When Sakura opened her eyes, it was the same pearls of white that the doll had. She extended her fingers in front of her and started to move her fingers in an incredible speed. The fingers of the doll followed the same speed as that of Sakura and he could see, little by little how she worked extensively at the injury he had caused the man. When the procedure draw to a close, she saw Sakura closed her fist and the puppet that was on her back, carefully laid down Rikuto on the ground. She raised a finger up and the Jutsu slowly floated upwards, detaching the strings that were attached to her. Slowly, her jutsu dissipated. It didn't take her more than 10 minutes until he saw a contented face in her previously distraught ones.

Sakura approached Rikuto and using a green chakra, placed a hand on his stomach. She tried to control the bleeding and stimulated the reproduction of blood from inside his body. Slowly, Rikuto regained his color from being ghastly to a somehow normal pinkish color, in which part, excited Sakura. She smiled when she saw a reaction form at his face.

"Rikuto…?" She asked, trying to confirm a response. When his eyes slowly opened, Sakura used her free hand to get the small penlight attached on her belt. She checked the dilation of his pupils and smiled when she knew it was normal.

"Sakura?" he asked. The woman withdrew her hand on his abdomen when she had normalized everything. "Good job coming back…" she whispered. He tried to get up but she pushed him down.

"Just lie down." Sakura grabbed another thing that was in the belt pocket of her uniform and positioned the bottle in front of his face. When he saw this, he grabbed it and brushed it away but Sakura held on to the bottle.

"Is that Sakura's special sleeping gas?" he smirked but frowned afterwards, trying to feel the twist in his stomach. She closed her eyes and smiled. "I can't believe you have the energy to fool around." He closed her eyes but stared right after the time he opened them again. He lifted a hand to caress her face.

"I-I made y-you worry huh?" Sakura laughed but her tears started to fall down. She thought she'd never see him again. She'd been in her automatic mode when she saw his bloody mask. Her mind only focused on healing him. She didn't want him to die. As per her reason why, she knew he had become someone important to her.

"Sakura." She heard Sasuke's voice and she knew right there and then that she needed to go. She didn't want Sasuke to repeat her name again. She might kill Rikuto the second time and even she can't revive him from the injuries he might inflict on him. At that moment Sakura embraced Rikuto.

"Please tell the Hokage that I'll be fine and I'll be back. I will try my very best to bring Sasuke home too…" she whispered, her voice low. Rikuto frowned at what she said. He can't allow her to go but he had no power or chakra left to deal with Sasuke however much he objected. Knowing this, Sakura took him by surprise then sprayed the gas in front of his face. Rikuto tried to hold on as long as she can. She stood up refusing to move for another second until she felt Sasuke's eyes pulling her towards him. She followed. Sasuke turned around and started walking.

"I did say you're not supposed to move away from that circle right?" Sakura couldn't believe how he was able to stand up because of his injuries and after receiving a dose from her sleeping gas. But he held on to her, embracing her from her back, leaning to help him stand.

"R-Rikuto?" she started. "I have to go with him." Rikuto didn't speak but he tightened his hold, expressing his disapproval with her decision to go. Sakura smiled at his gesture. She knew, being an ANBU who only values the mission and being the team captain, this was a failure. However, she wasn't a fan of missions that were full of casualties. And unfortunately, he will be if she doesn't go.

"Those who forsake their friends are scum." She said.

"No matter how deep or far Sasuke has fallen. No matter how much he denies it. He's still… our friend and a member of our team. I want to…" Sakura looked down. She didn't know if she's making the right choice but just knowing that she had the chance to know more about Sasuke and in the process, save Rikuto, she couldn't ask for a much better opportunity.

"I understand." Rikuto pulled up her chin to make her face backwards.

"I did say that if you talk too much, I'll put something in your mouth right?" He smiled and suddenly, a tear fell down from her eyes. He leaned down for a kiss, a swift embrace of his lips made her stand on her toes to try and take in more. Not a moment soon after that, he fell down. Sakura tried to catch his fall, placing him properly down before she went and stood up.

"Remove your cloak." Sakura was surprised with his order but tried to follow what he wanted. She lifted her jacket away from her body and folded it neatly beside the ANBU captain. When she stood up, Sasuke was a little intrigued to see her.

She had long pink hair that was fixed in a half bun while the rest fell down at the side of her shoulders. She had beautiful skin that seemed a little too pretty for a kunoichi of her caliber. She also wore a mid half white kimono decorated with bright pink cherry blossoms. She was tall and there was absolutely no trace of that little girl he had expected to see.

"_What do you know about her after eight long years?" _He remembered what he said and it was disturbing to know that Rikuto had managed to leave an impact like that to make him remember some of the nonsensical things he said. _"You don't deserve her…" _Sasuke closed his eyes and turned around, pushing away those thoughts.

"Follow me." Was the last thing he said.

* * *

I can't let Rikuto die right? Sakura promised that herself... she might punch me if i let him die. :)

Sorry for rushing it a bit.. I'm about to fly somewhere for a vacation.. I"ll update soon! Bye!


	8. Chapter 7: Past and Present

**Chapter 8**

You guys might start hating me right now. I know, I know, I update slow and it takes me awhile to finish a story. I apologize Anyway… I got busy now because of med school and because of a mind block. thank you for understanding.

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**Past and the Present**

It might have been a couple of hours since she left Rikuto alone in that part of the forest. She can't help but be worried for him because he wasn't in a state she would want to leave him. He needed further observation. In fact, its the first time she saw him very weak and vulnerable. That heightened her worries all the more. Playing a death match with Sasuke isn't exactly a nice thing to experience. Indeed, the way he almost fell to his death made her heart lose pace from worry; a tight knot that still eats her even now as she follow Sasuke closely.

But on the other hand, she was sure that right about now, help from Konoha has arrived. It also wasn't impossible for them to try and track them down. She was sure Naruto wouldn't just stand up and wait. He'd be following them like crazy with his multiple clones. A failed smile crept on her worried face. He'd fail though. Sasuke knew, as a medic, I had something with me that can make us both untraceable. "I just didn't have a choice."

As she gazed at his back full of curiosity, she began to drift to that time when they were still a team. If she thought of this as a mission, it would make a lot of sense. She can imagine Sasuke as the leader and she's following him towards the mission site. He can give her orders (a thought that made her blush temporarily before she shook it off out of her head).

It's too bad that she was older and wiser than before. It wasn't the time to play pretend games in a situation like this. For all she know, after he's done using her, he wouldn't even think twice killing her. He was a man who denied her existence before and if she were to make Sasuke choose between her and Naruto, he wouldn't even consider her as an option.

Sakura sighed and returned her focus to Sasuke. Judging from the way he moved and the way he tried to protect his arm this last hour, she knew he wasn't in a good condition. Even if he was a super warrior, dealing with those ANBU's must have been really tough. He deserved it. She was on the verge of trying to ignore him but found it too hard to deny his existence. He wasn't exactly the man that can be easily ignored. Well, she tried.

She snapped her head back and bit her lip. This isn't even half of the pain that he inflicted to all of those who cared for him- to all of Konoha who tried to forgive his sins despite how far beyond he had fallen, to Naruto and Rikuto who only tried to protect her and to her, a team mate who he finally found a use for.

She slowly lifted her face up to search for Sasuke. She could feel the hint of suffering pasted in his stoic face. If he was truly superior, why hasn't he forced her to heal him despite the theatrics she had done earlier? If he were truly evil, he would have beaten her up just to force her to heal him. Why hasn't he?

"But I am a healer," she reasoned to herself.

She closed her eyes and thought about it for a while. Sasuke deserved what he got from his earlier fights and if she tried to heal him, it would feel like she would be willing to turn a blind eye to what he did awhile ago- half-killing Rikuto and injuring a few more.

He deserved this, she convinced herself until she saw Sasuke took a plunging swerve and recovered at the most effective manner just seconds after he lost composure. She cringed when she saw how he fell.

Frowning, she finally took a step forward.

"That's it." She thought, brushing her hand through her hair. She quickened her pace to match her speed with Sasuke. Sakura had a hint of distaste in her mouth when Sasuke simply ignored her, giving her only a quick glimpse with his eyes before focusing back on the road they were both taking.

"Sasuke." Sakura only needed to say it once to get her point across. He didn't look at her but murmured something in place of recognition.

"Done debating?" Debating? She thought. She heard this line before. She tried her hardest to remember and when she finally realized where that déjà vu feeling came from, she was taken aback. She simply was dumbfounded. How can he remember something that happened years ago?

Back when they where still teammates, in one of their missions, she kept pretending she wasn't hungry. It took her a long time to say something because she was partnered with Sasuke, her one true love. Sighing, she went to Sasuke and told her dilemma. He simply grinned and looked away.

"Done pretending?" Sakura's eyes widened to the boy who had an innocent smile on his face.

"Y-you knew?" she had a ghastly look on her face.

"I did… you were so keen in hiding it, I simply followed through." Now, old as she was, she began to remember those fleeting moments with Sasuke. Those were the moments, which remind her that Sasuke can still be saved. She looked back at Sasuke and swallowed her last insecurities of her past.

"A-anyway, let's heal you first." Sasuke did not flinch. He kept moving forward without any intention to stop soon. Sakura hated it, how he ignored her while she was being kind to offer herself to help him. She burrowed her brows, wanting to fall back but kept her ground. She wasn't going to make a fool out of herself. "Don't be hard headed." She demanded with an irritated tone. This probably got to Sasuke when he suddenly slowed down to look at her fully.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, his face searching her for answers. Sakura had to stop too. As the man bored his black onyxes at her, she somehow wished she didn't talk at all.

"You don't listen to somebody else's opinion, you're hard headed, arrogant and-" Before she could continue, Sasuke reappeared in front of her, his hand grasping the length of her neck, squeezing it until she was on her tiptoes. The weight of his hand was unbearably heavy and she couldn't remove it away from her neck.

"I don't give a damn killing you right now, Sakura. I'm not that weak not to be able to do that either." He pushed her body up against the wall of the tree and activated his sharingan to make his point.

"D-do… th-that a-after… I fix you up." She mouthed. Sasuke withdrew his hand and stared down at her as she fell down flat on her back. She started coughing tremendously, bringing up one of her green-lighted finger up her neck until she felt better.

There was silence between them. No one dared to speak, not even Sakura who wants to say every curse words right now. Not Sasuke who still was lost for words at her actions.

"Why do you insist?" Sasuke finally broke the silence. He didn't part his stare at the girl until she returned it with her beautiful, soft ones that surprised Sasuke at this point. She never looked womanly before, he noticed.

"I'm wondering about that myself." She whispered, barely audible to the ears of the Uchiha.

"But I really can't bear to see anyone injured as long as I know that I can do something about it." Sasuke did not move. His apprehensive posture relaxed for a bit up to that point where he didn't seem too hesitant to that idea too.

Sakura took this as a cue. She stood up slowly and went in front of Sasuke. He looked at her and she looked back equally with no hint of fear. The perfect contours of his face, his black hair that seemed soft, and his eyes that revert back and forth to the Sasuke she once knew were nostalgic. She backed away a little to let him walk towards the trunk of the tree where she would work on him. Surprisingly, he willingly obliged.

When he reached the end, he sat down and waited for Sakura to work on him, eyes closed. She couldn't help but smile a little before going beside him. He wasn't usually the type to follow orders like that.

Sakura decided not to talk anymore so as not to concur his wrath again. She proceeded to get all her things from her belt pocket while emitting a green aura in front of his chest.

It did not take her a lot of time to work on his injuries although she hesitated when she was about to wrap a bandage on his arm and chest. She swallowed hard, trying to look away even when Sasuke himself allowed the proximity to occur between them.

He unwillingly lifted his arms up on the side, giving her access to his body.

"Is there a problem?" she looked up to search his face. He towered over her small, petite body. He looked down at her trying to determine why she stopped all of a sudden. He saw her reddened face that seemed to compliment her pink hair. From this distance, he was able to look at her properly,

"N-nothing." She swallowed and preceded to semi-embrace him, trying to be careful not to touch him in any way. She did this a couple of times and finally sighed a breath of relief when she finished tending to his wounds.

"Sasuke," Sakura started, her eyes down on the floor of the branch. "We need to rest in the next village after this. You incurred a lot of injuries and somehow, I feel there's something that's not right with you right now… I just can't point it out." Sasuke was surprised but did not further comment on that. He instead noticed how she was breathing harder than before. Her eyes were laidback and her fierceness seemed to have softened to a more womanly level. He guessed that she must have exhausted her chakra and she too needed to rest.

"I decide where to go, I don't need you to tell me that." Sasuke looked at her. He lifted his shirt up and fixed it properly so that it fell down nicely on his body.

"Besides, I had planned that from the start." He walked away from her and jumped to another branch that seemed to give a clear view of the road ahead. Sakura tried her best to get up and follow Sasuke who stood still, watching the view from where he was.

"Oh," she said, as she saw the beautiful town that was not that far away from where they were.

"Let's go then." He said as he jumped down beautifully. Sakura couldn't help but admire the Raven-haired man. Her heart can't possible beat again for someone who she tried to forget all these years. Somehow, that's how it's supposed to be right?

.0.0.0

"Are you husband and wife?" Sakura's eyes widened both from the shock and embarrassment. She was frozen from where she stands. Her face flushed a deeper shade of red as she tried to bow her head down in high hopes to hide it from scrutiny.

_Is that how people see us? _She thought. She refused to look at Sasuke to whom the question was addressed. He was quiet for a moment and it made the answer revel more in suspense. Finally, she heard him scoffed a little and she saw him grin from the corners of her eye.

"We are." The man cooed and tried to sneak a look at the woman hiding behind him. Sasuke stood ground and crossed his arms making the other man cough.

"She's the prettiest lady I've ever seen. Don't worry, we'll take care of everything from here…" he bowed and scrambled to get the keys from underneath the table. When he emerged, he gave the keys to Sasuke and tried to flash a smile professionally without being glared at.

"I-it's by the end of this hall. Just walk through this hallway and take a left in the end. You'll find your room there…" Sasuke took off without saying a word of gratitude, leaving Sakura to bow for him with a smile. Before she could even walk, the man spoke again.

"A-are you really together?" the man scooted in and whispered to her which caught her unguarded. Sakura faked a laugh and tried to bow once more. It was best not to answer that but she may raise suspicions so she stopped and smiled at the innkeeper.

"We have a little fight going on, that's all…" she bowed again and walked fast enough to catch up to Sasuke. She sighed and tried to shake her head. "We're husband and wife now?" that was the most crazy joke she heard in a long while. Not that she's laughing. It was embarrassing.

"You did not retort?" Sasuke whispered without looking. Sakura slightly looked up to catch a glimpse of his stoic face before brushing his comment aside.

"Even if I did, there's really no point arguing. I'm a captured soul." Sasuke seemed to agree with that as well. It was the poorest excuse he had thought in a while. Frankly speaking, he did not even felt it was wrong to say it as well. He did not care enough to worry.

"Hn~" was the only reply she got.

Sakura never heard Sasuke's voice after the last time they talked to each other. He was busy resting, a sight she was particularly interested in observing. He had been a face for so many battles that she thought he never needed to rest. This reminded her that he was still human despite his overwhelming need for revenge.

Time to time, she tried assessing if he was recovering properly. She deemed it important to check it out if ever there comes a point in time that her life is subjected to danger under his tyranny. However much she prepared for it though, there was a compelling force that wants to make her stay and watch over the injured Uchiha. She battled with it for some time until she arrived to the conclusion that staying with him will become a valuable intel gathering experience. There must be loads of things he does which the village needs to find out.

He awoke an hour after he lay down. His hair was a little messy but it was evident he brushed it with his hand before standing up. He walked towards Sakura with his imposing gait with his eyes directly scrutinizing her as she sat there beside the window, looking outside the greyed out skies.

She broke her attention and focused it to Sasuke. She blushed when she saw his loose robes exposing his chest and abdomen that seemed firm and cut to perfection. She can't deny that she was smitten with the way he looked. He was after all blessed with genes that make women fall down in adoration. Surprised when she saw him grin, which she probably knew why he did it, she threw her head back and tried to calm herself.

"What's wrong with me Sakura?" The question threw her off guard. If there was something wrong with him, its how he can look so gorgeous without even trying it. Sakura battled her inner and younger version inside her head and tried to stay rational. Sasuke leaned on the wall. His gaze never left the beautiful woman with pink locks of hair.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Sasuke nudged his head to the side and stared at her, unblinking. This caught her attention and felt the need to face him.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" he asked making her squirm back. She certainly heard what he said but she wanted to know if what she heard was correct. It was a sudden topic she wasn't prepared for.

"I know that you brought me here for a purpose, Sasuke. If you're asking me what's wrong with you then probably you have a condition the other medics you kidnapped can't fix." Sasuke's eyes widened at her guess.

"This won't take long then." Sakura sighed and looked away. She's been doing this deduction game ever since she became a professional medic in their village. If her guess was right, there's only one thing that he can be having problems with.

"Its your eyes Sasuke." A smile crept up to meet her gaze. She was taken aback to see his smile which was a little rewarding and a little bit foreboding. Certainly, there was a catch to that. She still don't know the circumstance Sasuke was in but she knew that whatever condition he is suffering from, he expects her to fix it for him.

"Check it." Sasuke demanded. Somehow, Sakura was unwilling to move but then, she took this as an opportunity to show him what else she can do.

"F-fine…" she moved forward, swallowing a big lump that formed in her throat. After his Akatsuki days, she really never felt comfortable staying near Sasuke and here she was, always being demanded to stay close to him. She took her last sigh and focused her attention to the man.

She lifted her hand on top of his head and closed her eyes. At that moment, she had formed a thin cover of aura surrounding her body. She extended that film over to Sasuke, extending it to cover his whole body as well. Not a minute after she did that, she shot her eyes open. There was a look of concern and horror in her face. She shook a little but then tried to settle herself down.

"What the heck are you doing Sasuke?" she shouted, catching him surprised. He looked at her and stared at her worried face. _Why was she worried? _He knew what was happening to him but it did not make any sense that she too felt the same alarm he feels. After all, if his condition worsens, Konoha will gain an advantage over him.

"What's my problem Sakura?" he still said coolly. It took time before Sakura could calm herself down but the sound of worry was still etched in her voice. She didn't know why there was a need to shout either.

"You have unstable chakra. Your networks especially in your eyes are beyond crazy. You're going blind Sasuke." She narrated in a matter of fact tone. She can never make a mistake in her diagnosis and this, right now was a fact.

"Very sharp." He went forwards, passing her face to whisper on her ear. "I want you to fix it."

"F-fix it? These jumble of wires? That's madness… it will take forever." She retorted. Forever is not an option for her. She needs to go back and report to the Hokage. This may be a mission in it self but it was too risky to stay long beside the Uchiha. Besides, there are much more important cases out there that needs her. There was no way she'd forego everything just because he demands her to do it.

"You mean you can fix it?" Sakura batted an eye. She believed she can but the process is work in itself.

"Its not impossible but its hard Sasuke... there's only a 25 percent chance that…" Sakura bit her lip. She would have opted to say it was impossible but she knew Sasuke would see behind her lies.

"Good." _Good? _The word echoed through her mind endlessly. What is the good in that mere 25 percent? She failed to understand his logic but he remained steadfast on this belief that it was _good enough._

"Good? Twenty five percent?" she almost raised her voice. She was starting to worry about his indifference to her feelings of worry and fear; that his sole chance of seeing clearly again was at the mercy of her hands.

"The only one who can do this is you Sakura. If I go blind, wouldn't that be a great big favor to Konoha?" he laughed. Sakura looked away, holding her arm with her other. That was definitely true. She can bring back Sasuke that way and he wouldn't be that powerful like before.

"Let me think about this…" Sasuke stood up with a kunai in his hands. He pushed her towards the wall almost lifting her up with sheer force. Sakura defended with a kunai of her own, pushing back the blade that he held so tightly in front of her neck.

"I didn't bring you here for you to think. I brought you here for you to do the things that I want you to do. You have no say in this." She hated how he can be so hardheaded. She frowned and stared back at his dark eyes that might as well be lost to oblivion.

"Y-you can't kill me otherwise." She managed to say. He needed her and as far as her expertise goes, she was too valuable to be killed here and now. As she looked back at him, he flashed a grin that made her back away. When he returned Sakura's stare, his eyes turned completely red, totally catching her off guard. Sasuke got her in the depths of her traumatic worries and troubles in a deathly stare given out by his sharingan.

She remained silent for a little while, kneeling on the floor as if she was already caught in a trance. Moments later, tears started to fall down on her face. There was no saying what she saw however, it was clear she suffered from the dream like state, he deliberately made her stay in for a couple of minutes.

Sasuke began to approach her, kneeling down as she neared his feet. He held her neck in a vice like grip and started to crush it slowly, making her whimper and scratch the hand that slowly took her air away. Finally, he had let go but went forward to whisper something in her ear.

"Don't be arrogant Sakura. I won't tolerate someone making assumptions about me." He stood up and walked away, a sight she should have gotten used to by now... but she couldn't. In the end, all she wished for was his recognition. Sakura cried until she felt the urge to sleep.

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Okay. I'm sorry for this late update. It's our sembreak and i finally had the time to update this now. I'm thankful for those who kept reading my stories despite the pace of my updates. you guys are my treasures :) I'll see what i can do for the next chappie :)


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